I have been getting a lot of request for more ideas for older girls. As we all know this is the age that is the hardest to keep them interested in girl programs, avoid hearing those words “I am bored”, and still learn from their Experience. Here are ideas to get your girls engaged in learning about our government. Behind the Ballot Activity Booklet Before jumping into a few ideas, do you want to skip all the planning? If so, use this Activity Booklet to do activities, games, and worksheets to allow your girls to takeover the meeting and it is generic enough that you can complete this long after a a presidential election year. In fact part of the booklet is about running your very own campaign to elect the Top Cookie of the Year. With a step by step activities, you can’t ask for a easier way to run your meeting. Before you can run your own campaign you need to understand how a presidential campaign works. In the first activity called Road to the White house the girls will learn everything from the beginning of a campaign all the way to accepting the position and entering the white house. In this activity the girls will not be reading something and filling in blanks, instead they will create a visual poster showing the steps to the white house. If the girls want to go bigger, you could buy poster board and they could create their poster on a bigger canvas instead of a 8 x 10 that comes with booklet. After the girls understand how an election works, they need to understand the rights of a voter, laws in your state, and more information around how YOU take part in picking a president. This activity can be done individually or in groups to find the answers using the internet, or if you have the access the questions can be used as interview questions to ask your local voting facility. The core of this booklet is the role playing using what they learned and the girls will run a full campaign from nominating their favorite cookies, voting for their party’s nominee, writing a speech, running a debate, making a slogan, designing an ad, writing acceptance speech. There is also additional activities included such as snack idea, Election Bingo, Bookmark craft, and activities related to elections in other countries. This booklet will have your girls excited about registering to vote when they are 18. Get yours today! Be sure to also checkout these other activities your girls will love: Design And Build Your Own Website: Web Designer Activities Let’s Get Creative: Collage Artist Activities Put Together A Performance: Troupe Performer Activities Learn What Is Behind Beauty: Science of Style Activities How To Live A Healthier Life: Women’s Health Activities Bringing People Together With Games: Game Visionary Activities Other Fun Activities To Try Do your girls know anything about the Government? Start out by playing a fun board game. A Great Game to play is Coin Hopping Washington. Bring the spirit of Washington to your Girl Scout meeting. This board game takes you and your troop on a whirlwind trip through the nation’s capital, visiting famous landmarks, monuments, art galleries and museums. The goal? Place your citizens in positions of power. Learn the concept of balance of power, Visit famous landmarks, monuments, art galleries and museums. Get your copy: Coin Hopping-Washington DC Patriotic Craft No matter how old your girls get they still will enjoy a craft break. Since this badge is all about voting, what better crafts then to do something patriotic. I debated on posting a few different suggestions, painting a american flag, making cards for our soldiers, etc. Instead I went to Pinterest and found a board that says everything I want to say. get creative with RED WHITE AND BLUE. Here is link to board If you don’t want to spend the time planning, our Activity Booklet has step-by-step instructions with activities that don’t require any planning other than gathering supplies and printing booklets. What do we do after your girls complete the activities? Well of course give them the badge to display proudly on their vest, they earned it! Additionally If you are like many leaders we want to award our girls when they complete something even beyond just the patch. One great way to show achievement is with a certificate. Don’t worry you don’t have to make them, I found a resource that has done all the work for you and all you have to do is print them and customize the certificates with each girl’s name, badge or award earned, date, and troop leader. Editable certificates perfect for awarding girls after earning a badge. More Resources For You Beyond This Site I get asked a lot what other resources are out there on the internet for Leaders. I have done some digging over the years and have used many of the resources myself. I compiled a list of some great companies that sell patches, programs and also other bloggers offering amazing resources that may fit your needs even better than my site did. Checkout what I found.

biographical information about women who will inspire young girls.…

As a 11th and 12th grader you are very close to graduating high school and either going to collage or moving out on your own. Use these 4 fun ideas to earn the Ambassador On My Own Badge with girls. These are skills that is important at every stage of your life all the way through your retirement years. Get it right early and you will set yourself up for success in the future.

Bring your troop together and earn the Girl Scout Ambassador Dinner Party Badge for Pi Day.

At age 12, Rangan and her brother co-founded Project Jatropha to help poor Indian farm families become financially independent.…

This teenaged environmental activist made a pageant gown from plastic bags to help promote awareness.…

A cornerstone of Girl Scouting, the seven legacy badges build on over 100 years of Girl Scout history. Each of these badges (Artist, Athlete, Citizen, Cook, First Aid, Girl Scout Way, and Naturalist) is available at five levels of Girl Scouting, from Brownie to Ambassador. Painting Fair Play Celebrating Community Snacks Brownie First Aid Brownie Girl Scout Way Bugs Drawing Practice with Purpose Inside Government Simple Meals Junior First Aid Junior Girl Scout Way Flowers Comic Artist Good Sports

From Girl Scouts of the USA Last month we introduced a whopping 23 new badges, and we’re proud to say that seven are focused on building girls’ outdoor skills and know-how. For each Girl Scout leve…

As a multi-level troop, I spend a lot of time finding the differences and similarities between badges to find which ones are closely related and can be completed together as a group. Cookie booth season is coming up soon so I plan on creating worksheets for my troop to complete during slow times at the booths. This allows us to sneak in an extra badge and we get real customers to analyze. Customer related badges Cookie Business related badges

One of the greatest challenges Girl Scout leaders face is troop attrition, especially after fifth grade Juniors. Working WIth Older Girl Scouts-Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors, is a guide for leaders of these levels.

If your looking for ideas to make your meeting more fun while discovering more about what your girls are eating and how it affects their body both inside and out, you have come to the right place. Using some of these activities below they will learn how food can affect your mood, body and mind. Below are a few ideas to get you started. Eating For You Activity Booklet Before jumping into a few ideas, do you want to skip all the planning? If so, use this Activity Booklet with activities, games, and worksheets to allow your girls to takeover the meeting and give your girls a better understanding of how nutrition affects your mood mind and body. Your girls will discover how simply choosing the right foods to eat can help your stress level, your skin will be smoother, your hair will be shinier, nails will be stronger and lastly you will sleep better. With a step by step activities, you can’t ask for a easier way to run your meeting. Learn more and get yours today! Be sure to also checkout these other activities your girls will love: Learn How To Draw Like A Comic Artist Activities Living The Life You Want: Finance Your Dreams Activities Debate and Compromise: Finding Common Ground Activities The Mystery Behind The Smile: Science of Happiness Activities It Is Your Turn To Speak: Public Speaker Activities Other Fun Activities To Try MyPlate Builder Game Learn more about portions and what you should eat. A deliciously fun game that supports official MyPlate guidelines! Players try to be the first to build the perfect plate as they answer questions from six categories: Fruits, Vegetables, Dairy/Grains, Protein, Physical Fitness, Physical Challenge. Questions include nutrition and health, language arts and math topics. Physical Challenge and Today’s Special cards add a taste of fun. Order your game from amazon here. Do the MyPlate worksheet After playing the game have girls do worksheet to create their own plate of healthy food and to have a little fun with word searches and puzzles. Click here to get copy Remembering Healthy Foods Have girls get into a circle, Leader start with ball or beanbag says “Fruit are a great healthy food. A Vegetable I like is…” Then pass to next girl she must say what you just said plus add another fruit. So “Vegetables are a great healthy food. Vegetables like are carrots and celery is what second girl would say next girl would add another, if girl can not think of one or forgets order have her sit down, continue around circle till last person standing. Start with a different type of healthy food. Types of food to use are: green leafy vegetables, colorful vegetables, grains, proteins (meat, nuts and beans) fruit and dairy products. Bad Skin and Healthy Skin – Food can affect it Put girls into two different groups; choose one girl to be the human bulletin board. One team will be for bad food, write Bad Food = Unhealthy Skin on post it and put on forehead of girl chosen on team to be bulletin board and on other team a post it that that says healthy food = Healthy skin put on her forehead. Set the time for 10 minutes, and have each team come up with as many foods that fit in that category, put one item of food on each post it and stick to the girl “Human Bulletin board” At the end of time have them take the post its off one at a time reading what foods they wrote down, team that figured out the most types of food wins. TELL GIRLS ABOUT HEALTHY SKIN: The basic diet for healthy skin is as follows: Avoid processed foods, choose natural foods Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables Choose low fat sources of protein such as chicken and fish not steak and hamburger Eat complex carbohydrates are like vegetables, skim milk, and whole grain cereals Drink fresh, clean (bottled if necessary) water Avoid sugar and simple carbohydrates which are things like candy, chocolate, biscuits, whole milk Beyond food that is good and bad for you. Did you know? a lot of ingredients used in skincare products have detrimental effects on the human body. Now, more than ever, it has become crucial for you to check each product label in order to steer clear from harmful ingredients. Teach your girls about these 14 toxic ingredients to watch out for in skin care products. Play a game of How High Is the Sugar Content? (Price is Right) Give each girl a pile of sugar cubes, we will line up a number of products, the girls all have to guess how much sugar they think is in that item using the sugar cubes. Once they all have guessed reveal the answer (have cubes hidden under a cardboard piece that has how many grams wrote on it and shows cubes.) Tell the girls that the American Heart Association recommends women only have 26 grams of sugar a day. So make that comparison with some of the items like the pop and cookies. Eating Affects Your Sleeping Poster Create a Poster where one side shows you sleeping perfectly. Use pictures, magazines, and words, whatever you need to show around you what it means to sleep soundly. On other side show yourself not sleeping well and all the reasons why that may be happening around that picture. SHARE THIS INFO WITH GIRLS: Eating right and at the right time is necessary for the good sleep. Our body has its own internal clock, which sets our sleeping, and getting up times. Hormones of the body control and regulate this clock. The secretion of these hormones is effected by the way we eat and think. Helpful tips to get a better night sleep: Never go to sleep with full stomach, as it will cause heartburn and keep you awake. Eat three or four hours before going to sleep. Don’t go to bed with empty stomach, as it will trigger the glycogen to stimulate the brain to produce sleepless hormones. FOODS THAT HELP THE SLEEP: Tryptophan rich food: Tryptophan is the sleep inducing hormone and found in milk, banana, poultry products, oats, and in honey. Snack: boiled eggs or vegetables: Yogurt: It is one of the greatest sleep-inducing product and help for sleep if taken a bowl of yogurt before going to sleep. FOODS THAT AFFECTS THE SLEEP: High fats: foods with high fat content not only cause the increase in weight but also cause sleepless nights. Spicy foods: Cause of heartburn or if you have acid reflux the digestive system get disturb and causes sleepless. Chocolate and caffeinated foods: The caffeine and other stimulants present in coffee and chocolates activate the brain cells and keep the person awakened. High protein foods: source of increasing brain activity and cause the sleepless nights. Before going to bed avoid the proteins snacks and protein foods. Four Corner Exercising Put the exercise type on the wall one in each corner of room, put different workouts on other side of paper for second round. Girls must choose a sign to stand next to. Then draw out one of the exercises, if they are standing in that corner they do not do the exercise, everyone else must do the exercise they are next to, perform the exercise the number of times they are old (Example if they are 10 they do 10 reps) Once done girls choose a new corner to stand at and again choose a exercise. Do three rounds of this exercise and then flip paper over and do 4 different exercises. Then end the game by doing the elimination version, last person standing, if you call exercise they are standing by they are out have them do move before sitting down. Continue till only 1 left standing. ROUND 1: Push Ups, Sit up or crunch, Mountain Climbers, Jumping Jacks ROUND 2: Lunges, Knee lifts, Burpies, Squats After game tell girls to choose healthy snack vs. chips or cookies, to keep your energy up. Glow Sticks Yoga/Relaxation Workouts in the Dark Give each girl two glow sticks and do the below moves and exercises This partner stretch will allow the girls to be mindful of each other while they relax. Have the girls find a partner and sit on the floor. Say slowly and calmly to the girls “Face your partner, open your legs comfortably and touch your feet with your partner’s feet. Tell girls lean forward and grasp each other’s hands. One partner leans back, slowly pulling your partner forward. Now the second partner will lean back and pull their partner slowly forward. This exercise helps girls focus on breathing, helping them achieve rest and balance. Have the girls sit comfortably on the floor or mat. Slowly and calmly tell the girls “In the winter, bears hibernate in caves, sleeping peacefully. Sit up tall, close your eyes, and go inside. Through your nose, breathe in for a count of five, and then hold for a count of three. Breathe out for a count of five, then hold for a count of three.” Repeat this instruction 5 times. Then say, “Open your eyes and notice how you feel.” Be sure to allow girls time to finish each step after you say it. Have girl spread out so they can make big movements without hitting anyone. Explain that you are going to call out natural phenomena’s. As each word is called out, the girls should use there body and their voices to act out the word however they choose. They should continue making the movements until you call out the next word. You can call out the words as slowly or quickly as you like. Natural phenomena: storm cloud tree rainbow tornado waves fire river Food Sorting Game Knowing which foods are only good to have occasionally and which ones to eat regularly is one of the first steps to healthier eating. Help your kids learn which foods are daily foods and which foods are sometimes foods with this fun sorting game. Here is a free printable for this sorting activity. Beyond just eating better its a good idea to stay active. To help you out, Bestow created these fun printable games and activities designed to get your girls on their feet and playing outside. If you don’t want to spend the time planning, our Activity Booklet has step-by-step instructions with activities that don’t require any planning other than gathering supplies and printing booklets. What do we do after your girls complete the activities? Well of course give them the badge to display proudly on their vest, they earned it! Additionally If you are like many leaders we want to award our girls when they complete something even beyond just the patch. One great way to show achievement is with a certificate. Don’t worry you don’t have to make them, I found a resource that has done all the work for you and all you have to do is print them and customize the certificates with each girl’s name, badge or award earned, date, and troop leader. Editable certificates perfect for awarding girls after earning a badge. More Resources For You Beyond This Site I get asked a lot what other resources are out there on the internet for Leaders. I have done some digging over the years and have used many of the resources myself. I compiled a list of some great companies that sell patches, programs and also other bloggers offering amazing resources that may fit your needs even better than my site did. Checkout what I found. Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!

*This post contains affiliate links.

If you’re looking for a way to add some literal fresh air to your troop meetings this Spring, here are 20+ badge activities that will help your Girl Scout troop earn their outdoor badges!

Everything you need for your Thinking Day* or International celebration-- Swapping pins, recipes, costume ideas, free printables and more.…

Be Miss America. Be a Lookout, complete with Basilisk Slayer badge. Be the Ambassador from China.

Use this guide to create a plan for your troop’s year. All Troops Should Meet at least 10 times per year Complete a Leadership Journey Complete at least one activity plan from each skill-buil…

If you have Junior Troop use these 5 fun activities to earn the Junior Musician badge! From learning a new instrument to creating your own original song, these fun and educational tasks will help you hone your musical skills and earn your badge with your troop.

The Girl Scout Adulting 101 Patch Program for Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors is a series of tasks and activities to help girls learn the things they need to know to be a successful adult.

New outdoor badges for Girl Scouts have finally arrived. I know leaders have anxiously awaited details of these new outdoor adventure badges since the Girls Choice winners were announced earlier th…

Us leaders, were trying to teach the girls about Voting today. We talked about what voting means, the older girls made commercials and campaigned. We decided to have them vote on our upcoming Christmas Party. It's going to be our badge ceremony as well, so we thought we should start collecting things. Amanda did a great job on the voting booths...! Serena being adorable and making a difference by voting....! Kenia getting her "I Voted" sticker! Our leaders voted for our favorites as well...! Every vote counts...! I had to put this picture of Sandy. She's so cute..! The votes were counted...! The results are in..... Gingerbread Themed Christmas Party Pizza for the Main Course Secret Santa Gift Exchange Aren't these ballots adorable?! The girls had a fun time voting...!

At age 10, Smith became known as "America's Youngest Ambassador" after a high profile visit to the Soviet Union. …

Inspiring girl leaders of tomorrow

Use this guide to create a plan for your troop’s year. All Troops Should Meet at least 10 times per year Complete a Leadership Journey Complete at least one activity plan from each skill-buil…

Me with my daughters 2018 - Photo Credit: Ali Katzenmyer I have a couple of sub-pages for some specific uniform things. If you'r...

As the first female professional astronomer, Mitchel is a model for girls to pursue interests in STEM careers.…

Your speech should advance your leadership, not undermine it.

My first class EVER in Amelia Island, FL Sean working on his boat collage Teach? Oh no, I couldn't If you asked me a few years ago about the potential for teaching collage art workshops, I'd probably tell you that I didn't know how to teach anyone anything. But SOMEHOW I agreed to teach a collage workshop one day when some folks emailed me from Amelia Island. My husband had always told me to say "yes" when asked to do such things, and then figure out how to do it later. So I did, I said "yes" and then I wondered,... how the hell am I going to do this? In those days my kids were in elementary school and I had volunteered in each of their classes, every year, with the PTA Art See program where we centered a lesson and a project around a famous artist once a month. I taught K-5th grade. I also was the co-chair of the national PTA Reflections program for three years. "If you can teach and organize elementary kids and art programs, you can certainly teach adults who actually WANT to be there." True, very true. The Answer is Always "Yes" So sure, I agreed to be The Amelia Island Artists Workshops Inc. FIRST visiting teacher. AND the man all the way to the right in the above photo is Sean Callahan, an amazing pet portrait and watercolor artist who emailed me prior to the class to ask me a few questions. I visited his website www.dogtiredstudio.net and then I said... WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO TEACH THIS GUY? His work is amazing, check out his website. Sean Patrick Callahan's boat collage, which he promptly SOLD Guess what? Sean liked the class so much he called me three years later and asked me to come here, to Key West, where I am teaching this weekend and taught last year as well. AND he invited me to show in Stone Soup Gallery on White Street. This weekend was the opening for my second solo show here. Not only have we stayed friends, but these days I am also Sean's hairdresser Guess What? I could get used to this Truth be told, I really enjoyed teaching that very first class on Amelia Island. They enjoyed having me too, since they asked me to return the following two years. Sean reminded me this weekend that during the Amelia Island class, he went out at lunch time and purchased a copy of Hemingway's "Old Man of the Sea" and wove the printed pages into his boat. He said he learned a lot from me in that class (despite the fact that I had no idea what I was doing) and he TELLS ME that he had no idea it was my very first workshop. I think he just wants me to remain his hairdresser, so he's being nice. Flattery will get you everywhere. Terrance Michael making us all eggs in the morning Just Hanging I have to give a shout out to Sean and his husband Terry for their AMAZING hospitality while I have been here. Despite my trying to work my way into the kitchen and do my share, Terry has been cooking almost every meal and juicing all kinds of crazy veggies for me (beats are amazingly purple when served over ice), as well as running three miles every morning at the sea wall together. Sean makes me coffee, pours me wine, drives me all over the island, and does his very best to sell my work at the gallery. The True Joy of Teaching I enjoy teaching workshops because it's great to be the center of attention (right?) and to have folks really interested in what I have to say about the subject I am considered an "expert" at. Truth be told, the true joy of teaching is in the people I meet, the friends I make, and continue to stay in touch with. I'm sure you can see how Sean and I have changed over the years from the first photo to now. How cool is that? Cheryl and I having too much fun posing with my demo apple this weekend in Key West See Cheryl's blog posts about the class here and here This weekend was no exception. I met an amazing woman named Line who came here to visit Key West from Denmark and decided to take my class while she was in town. I met Leni and her husband David (soon to be first time grandparents) who drove all the way from Hollywood, FL (4 hours, people) after admiring my work in multiple galleries and stalking me online! I had two returning students, and met more locals and snow birds. There is a huge sense of community here in Key West, I've saw a lot of familiar faces at my show opening from last year. Folks here are close. Don't Be a Stranger "I've had some of my best conversations with strangers, she said, because they have no idea who they're dealing with." -- Brian Andreas www.storypeople.com I love Brian Andreas because his limericks really resonate with me. I TOTALLY talk to everyone I meet without any issue, when this quote showed up in my e-mail box as my subscribed story of the day, I forwarded to everyone I knew. I'm outgoing and certainly not shy, I love to joke and laugh with everyone and that's what makes me a good fit for teaching. I'll tease you, make you smile and have you feeling good about yourself and your artwork. There's no pressure and no wrong answers or dumb questions. Watch out, I might even encourage you to run a 5K! I've had at least three students dust of their running shoes and get off their couches after listening me say, "If I can do it, anyone can." This weekend I'm teaching at the Craft Shack in my hometown of Longwood, FL. I might just be a little late though, on Saturday morning I'm running the Seasons 52 5K in Winter Park. Stone Soup Gallery opening reception last year People Make All the Difference I'm forever thankful for the people that I meet in workshops. My student and friend Maritza took my third class in Amelia Island and then brought me to Bermuda (where she lives) to teach at the Bermuda Society of the Arts. I've had students in my class from Alberta, Canada, Denmark, and even Qatar! Maritza and Yours Truly in Amelia Island, Florida I have a lot of return students as well. If you have taken my class and want to come back for more, I'll modify your project so that you can work at an intermediate level. This weekend we had two returning students at the gallery from last year, Gretchen and Karen both wanted more! LOL. Chuck Seaman popped into Stone Soup this weekend to say hello, he took my class last year. I gave him some pointers on how to use fluid acrylics to color his traditional Gyotaku fish prints and he offered to make me some small fish impressions, and maybe even some plants in return. SCORE! Are you kidding? I can't wait to collage with fish impressions. Chuck's work is amazing: www.chuckseamanfishart.com Kim and Yours Truly in Traverse City, MI Kimberly Kelly Santini the amazing painter I met online, now that's a story! We met via this blog and became fast friends. At least a year later (maybe two?) I was asked to teach in Traverse City, MI by the Arts Center there. I asked Kim, "How far is TC from you?" (I know nothing about geography and I'm too lazy to look things up) "I'll pick you up at the airport and we'll drive up together" was her immediate response. I met Kim for the first time the weekend she took my workshop. (Actually I met her for the first time a the bottom of the escalator stairs, I nearly missed her because I was wondering how the heck they suspended granite slabs from the walls of the tiny Flint airport without serious architectural challenges... Good thing she was waving a sign around) This August I'll be teaching with the Art Center in Traverse City again, and so will Kim -- same weekend. And speaking of TC, I'd be remiss if I didn't say how much fun I still have with Katie, our classroom monitor and our social director for the weekend. Come out and Tear Paper with Me My workshops are listed down the right hand column of my blog and also on the EVENTS tab at the top of my Facebook Fan Page, which features work in progress and photos of fun things (like my shoes, my dogs on the shelf in my studio, and an occasional dried out lizard). If you have never visited, stop on by! Paper Paintings Collage Artwork Facebook Fan Page No FB account required Just creative curiosity AND a sense of humor.

Looking to earn the Senior Science of Style Badge? Look no further! In this blog post, we'll explore five fun activities . From exploring fashion history to creating unique outfits, this post has got you covered.

Girl Scout bridging resources for leaders of all scouting levels. Plan this Girl Scout milestone with ease!

I love friendship bracelets and am pretty good at making them. The largest I've ever done is a 30 string bracelet that I'm still working on, but should be finished soon. Today I decided to try my hand at making a pattern. I love the many many different patterns on friendship-bracelets.net and decided to use their pattern generator. After several trials and errors I finally came up with this: It's still pending and hasn't been accepted to the site yet, but once it is you can find it here to add to your favorites! (Looks like they rejected it. Oh well, I can still use it and so can you!) As you can see it's a trefoil. It's the best I could do and I'm quite proud of it. I should have one finished this summer so that I can show what it looks like in bracelet form. Happy bracelet making. ~Zigg